Cataracts

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, is a board-certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Dahl's educational background includes a BA with Honors and Distinction from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, and an MD from Cornell University, where he was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. He had an internal medical internship at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

Facts about cataracts

Cataracts are extremely
common, and most cataracts are a result of the aging process.

Although many
cataracts are not significant enough to require treatment, surgical removal of
cataracts is usually safe and effective, resulting in improvement of vision.

Cataract surgery should be performed when the visual loss from the cataract
significantly impacts the lifestyle of the individual patient.

What is a cataract?

A cataract is an eye disease in which the clear lens of the eye becomes
cloudy or opaque, causing a decrease in vision. Although the word cataract to
describe this condition has been part of the English language only since the
middle of the 16th century, the eye disease has been recognized and
surgically treated since ancient times.

Eyeball Illustration - Cataracts

The lens is a portion of the eye that is normally clear. It focuses rays of light entering the eye onto the retina, the light-sensitive
tissue at the back of the eye. In order to get a clear image onto the retina,
the portions of the eye in front of the retina, including the lens, must be
clear and transparent. The light initiates a
chemical reaction within the retina. The chemical reaction, in turn, initiates
an electrical response which is carried to the brain through the optic nerve.
The brain then interprets what the eye sees.

In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. The
lens must be clear for the retina to receive a sharp image. If the lens is
cloudy from a cataract, the image striking the retina will be blurry and the
vision will be blurry. The extent of the visual disturbance is dependent upon
the degree of cloudiness of the lens.

Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older
people. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have some degree of
cataract or have already undergone cataract surgery in one or both eyes. By age
95, this percentage increases to almost 100%. A cataract can occur in either
or both eyes. Individuals with a cataract in one eye usually go on to develop a
cataract in the other eye as well. A cataract is not contagious and cannot
spread from one eye to the other or from person to person. Cataracts do not cause the eye to tear abnormally.
They are neither painful nor make the eye itchy
or red.

Although vision can be restored in most people with cataracts, age-related
cataracts are still the most common cause of blindness in the world, primarily
because many third-world nations lack appropriate surgical services.

As life span increases in the developed world due to modern technology and
new methods of treatment of acute and chronic disease, the incidence of
age-related cataracts will continue to increase.

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